Jazzman Posted June 10, 2003 Share Posted June 10, 2003 When I was young, I was I guess hyper, off the wall so to speek. Always played baseball, track, and other things that kept me prety busy. Always tapping my hands or fingers on something. My wife still gives me a hard time about it. It seems that I can't relax, always moving my feet, streching them. I talk kinda fast, I think in paragraphs so to speak. I get board very easily, am a work-a-holic at work. I think that I am very logical in things that I do. Is this a trate of a drummer? Jazzman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super 8 Posted June 10, 2003 Share Posted June 10, 2003 Originally posted by Jazzman: Is this a trate of a drummer? I don't know... Maybe. I'm pretty laid back. I do have a lot of nervous energy -my fingers or foot taps, I might rock in my chair, things like that. I am NOT a workaholic. In fact, I tend to wish I had more energy more of the time. I can be pretty lethargic -which is a trait I've never liked about myself. My mind is constantly buzzing and thinking. I usually have a beat and or a song in my head (either one I've heard, or something I'm making up). I get lost in my head a lot. I was diagnosed with ADD a number of years ago, but a variation which they call 'Inattentive type'. Basically, instead of being 'hyper', I tend to have a harder time focusing on one thing and tends to jump around. But it doesn't make me hyper or anything. Super 8 Hear my stuff here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovesinger Posted June 10, 2003 Share Posted June 10, 2003 Originally posted by Super 8: Originally posted by Jazzman: [qb] ... a trate of a drummer? I don't know... Maybe. I'm pretty laid back. I do have ... [finger taps] or foot taps, I might rock in my chair, things like that. I am NOT a workaholic. In fact, I tend to wish I had more energy more of the time. ... . My mind is constantly ... thinking. I usually have a beat and or a song in my head (either one I've heard, or something I'm making up)...QB]The edited quote above includes me pretty much. I'm definitely a mostly laid-back type as well, but I noticed long ago the drummer's engine seems always going inside me no matter what else is happening. A thing I've learned is that a solid beat easily sparks me into drummership no matter how I felt a moment ago - unless I'm so focused on something important I tune it out or relegate it to ambient priority. My feet seem to be the main players. I've been ill or dog-tired at times and a solid-rhythm in any genre almost always starts my feet moving. I guess the feet also get the most play because my hands are often doing something else but I'm compelled to get involved with the beat before it's gone. An unusual thing (talent?) with that is that I sometimes bass drum on the floorboard and gas pedal as I drive, which at times makes my wife give me that puzzled "how are you doing that and driving?" look. (or "Why...?" ) What's odd is that the times I do it (not often on the accelerator pedal) I drive steady and the speed never varies more than about 3 mph up or down. I've guessed that part of that foot frenzy is also a long-held desire to do some serious DOUBLE-BASS drumming, which I've not done yet. Vincent -- Music has miracle potential -- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offramp Posted June 10, 2003 Share Posted June 10, 2003 I liken my general mental state to that of a Rolodex with a small motor attached. Once in a while, I can see the info on a card as it zips by, and act on it; most of the time I'm in a state of perpetual scatter. If I concentrate on one thing, my mind ends up contemplating the cause and effect of whatever I'm doing as well as maintaining awareness of my environment and trying to second-guess the likelihood of someone disrupting my concentration. I'm also always listening to my environment for patterns, beats. There's always music going on in my head. For the most part, it's a snippet of a song or several songs--as if someone keeps whacking the side of one of those 300-disc multidisc changers--so very little ever finishes in my head. My fondness for coffee doesn't help, either. I compensate for all of this by trying to stay really low-key. Meditation is a challenge, too, but it helps. If I'm really self-challenged, I go climbing up in the mountains, as the physical demands of the task are overwhelming and clearing. Another option is to soak in some local hot springs for a hour or two. My past as a producer and multi-instrumentalist get me in tight spots where I'm the drummer, because I end up thinking more about the guitar or the keys or the art of tracking and engineering and have to be really careful about overstepping my boundaries because of the enthusiasm. All that said, I still manage to be a pretty funky pocket-player. Don't know how. I've upped my standards; now, up yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Flier Posted June 10, 2003 Share Posted June 10, 2003 LOL Jazzman... well, I know a lot of drummers, and my two favorite drummers that I know personally, are both the way you describe yourself. Both have a lot of nervous energy, are kind of jumping out of their skins and need to stay physically active (one does lots of athletic things, the other - the drummer in my band - has a physically active day job and also likes to be "handyman" around the house, build stuff and fix stuff). Both talk a lot and tend to talk rapidly, both are extremely focused, disciplined and kind of workaholic. If there's not enough action going on, both tend to want to create some. I know plenty of drummers who don't have that personality type, and some of them are really good, but IMO none are as good as those two. Even though their lifestyles are different, and they don't know each other, it always strikes me as weird how alike they are in some very unique ways. I'd love to hear you play sometime Jazzman! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super 8 Posted June 10, 2003 Share Posted June 10, 2003 Originally posted by lovesinger: An unusual thing (talent?) with that is that I sometimes bass drum on the floorboard and gas pedal as I drive, Oh, that's interesting. I always keep time with my left foot on the floor board. It's a straight 1/4 pulse, and I don't even know I'm doing it. But more than one person has commented on it, and said that the car is rocking... Damn right it's rocking! Super 8 Hear my stuff here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djarrett Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 Oh, now this is getting interesting. I am the most anal retentive, work-a-holic, gotta be busy person I know. Always thought that if you need something done, ... ask a busy person ... ask me! My Grandmother used to say, "Dendy, ... a rolling stone gathers no moss!" I took that to heart. The sad thing is that the older I get, ... the less time I seem to have. I used to remember hearing my folks say this, and thinking ... yeah right, but it is true! Same amount of hours in the day, but I seem to loose the grip I have on the time. I find it very interesting that we may be uncovering a pattern here. Perhaps we should instigate a university study! Write a book! DJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted July 6, 2003 Share Posted July 6, 2003 Back in the glam rock 80s...I think I knew of a couple of drummers who used Max Factor. Or was it Revlon? "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offramp Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 Tedster, I've been waiting a while for someone to take the bait on this one. Here goes... I'd say, call Peter Criss. He could tell ya. I've upped my standards; now, up yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidereal Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 Funny. Weird thing for me is that I tend to listen to Brian Eno type stuff and avoid anything that remotely smacks of fusion... although I do dig prog rock. I don't think I like drum-focused music as much as music that releases me from all things drumming. In terms of personality, I'm sort of hyperactive-xenophobic. The contrast is weird, but I'm just primarily introverted. I tend to get uncomfortable around normal people. I'm also completely undisciplined, although I practice my diddles as much as I can. When it comes to drumming, I'm the kind of drum freak who even loves the smell of a new drum head. Maybe it's a touch of OCD, I don't know. I tend to buck the trend of the mindless drummer though in that I take a philosophical-intellectual approach to things, sometimes to extremes... meaning I overanalyze, which makes it hard to focus in the studio. I also have a drumset in my mouth. The front teeth are the kick, the molars (bite down) are the snare, and the fangs are either ghost notes or extra kick notes. I can do mean double-bass licks between my incisors and fangs! Just for the record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djarrett Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 Sidereal: That is funny. I do the exact same thing. I actually cadence with my teeth ... when I walk. Is that weird or what? DJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidereal Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 Haha! Actually... I often do polyrhythms when walking down the street. Let the feet keep a set 4/4 and then do 3, 5, 7, etc. patterns over the top with your teeth. I do this all the time. We are freaky people, indeed. Just for the record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzman Posted July 8, 2003 Author Share Posted July 8, 2003 WOW you guys are freeking me out.......I did the same thing at an earlier age, did the teeth thing, foot work with the 4/4 timing then did finger pops at the same time and hummed silently (in the head)!!! I class I used to use both hands on the desk at school to do a beat, having the fingers go in different directions, meeting at the same time in different patterns. It's comming back to me now. Jazzman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offramp Posted July 8, 2003 Share Posted July 8, 2003 Another "teether" here, too: odd, I was doing it just now as I cliked on this page to load. I was doing the groove from Steely Dan's "Green Book". I've upped my standards; now, up yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djarrett Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 Geesh, I hope we have no drummer dentist lurking here. They will be all over us! Teeth on, gentlemen! DJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drummer_boy Posted July 12, 2003 Share Posted July 12, 2003 Never the teeth thing. Just tapping on my desk and writing down rhythms that go through my head that i want to try out when i get home from school. I always have music rolling through my head, and i usually will find my self walking to the rhythm or bobbing my head while i'm in class. Heck, i beatbox, too, and play out the rhythms on my desk. Guess when music flows through your viens, you always have to let it out somehow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rik Posted August 8, 2003 Share Posted August 8, 2003 I sometimes think I should have been a drummer (I'm a bass player). I like to walk at a steady pace while tapping my hand on my thigh every other beat - sort of walking in 4/4 time - while simultaneously humming Geddy Lee bass lines in 7/4 time on top of it I like the tension that creates because of the conflicting beats. However, I'm far more laid back than most of the drummers I've met, and actually fit the "bass player personality" (not wanting to draw a lot of attention to myself) pretty well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedly Nightshade Posted August 9, 2003 Share Posted August 9, 2003 I'm usually ridiculously laid back, but I'm not as good as Lee's drummer! Who is a great inspiration however... I do the poyrhythmic rapping on things, luckily the current galpal doesn't mind being played a bit. The last one did mind, and that was a *really* irreconciable difference... Actually I mastered a lot of polyrhythms quite unconsciously before I took up the drums, just tapping my feet and rapping my hands. Never did care about the funny looks... A WOP BOP A LU BOP, A LOP BAM BOOM! "There is nothing I regret so much as my good behavior. What demon possessed me that I behaved so well?" -Henry David Thoreau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rande Stroup Posted August 18, 2003 Share Posted August 18, 2003 talk about personalitys myself iam one busy hyper guy.i own a business practice as much as i can play out every chance i get to make this short my hands feet and body are always on the move.reading the other quotes seems similar to other percussionists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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